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Damani Phillips
Previously, Phillips was assistant professor of music (Jazz Studies) at Grinnell College, where he directed the jazz ensemble and taught jazz composition/arranging, jazz history, improvisation, musicianship and aural skills.
He earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in music from DePaul University and the University of Kentucky in classical saxophone, and a second Masters degree in Jazz Studies from Wayne State University. Phillips recently completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and is one of the first African-Americans in the country to earn this degree.
An active performer, pedagogue and composer, Phillips has taught and performed throughout the United States, England and Japan. He has previously served on the adjunct faculty of Oakland University (Rochester, MI) and Macomb Community College (Macomb, MI), and is actively sought as a guest artist, clinician and adjudicator.
As a performer, Phillips has performed with Christian McBride, Terrence Blanchard, Dianne Reeves, Marcus Belgrave, Terrell Stafford, Maceo Parker, Ira Sullivan, The Temptations, Red Holloway, Greg Gisbert, the Lexington (KY) Philharmonic, the Pontiac-Oakland Symphony, the touring Dave Matthews cover band “Crush”, and many others.
Phillips released his debut CD "Yaktown Nights" in 2004, followed by “The String Theory” in November 2010, featuring original compositions and arrangements that combine a traditional jazz rhythm section with a string quartet. His most recent quartet recording, “The Reckoning,” (featuring Pat Bianchi on Hammond Organ, Greg Gisbert on trumpet and Lewis Nash on drums) was released in December 2013.
Gear
Yamaha 875 Custom (Black Laquer) Vandoren V16 Mouthpeices - 7 facing Vandoren Java Reeds - Strength 3
Tags
Damani Phillips: No More Apologies
by Troy Dostert
One of the often encountered effects of the pandemic has been to reduce artistic motivations to their most fundamental core. The hunger to make art simply for its own sake, without the encumbrances of marketplace considerations or stylistic categories, has emerged more fully than ever before. We have seen this in the jazz world, with plenty of musicians experimenting with radically innovative approaches to composing, recording and distributing their music. There is often a noticeable defiance accompanying this creativity and ...
Continue ReadingDamani Phillips: The Reckoning
by Victor Verney
Damani PhillipsThe ReckoningSelf Produced2012“Reckoning" is a complex word with many shades of meaning, an apt choice for reedman Damani Phillips' latest CD. As a noun, it signifies (among other things) an objective appraisal built with concrete facts. Used as a verb, the word denotes an educated guess based upon imaginative speculation. In any case, it suggests calculation underpinned by trust--whether in others, oneself, or a Higher Power. All these ...
Continue ReadingDamani Phillips: The String Theory
by Victor Verney
Damani PhillipsThe String TheorySelf Produced2010 The idea of adding strings to a jazz combo has long been a divisive issue among the music's aficionados. It's often disparaged by many purists as a commercial sell-out, similar to the “fusion" concept of marrying jazz with rock. One self-proclaimed hard bop hardliner, Ken Blanchard, has blogged that “strings can make the most obscure bop tenor palatable to a larger audience by packaging him in ...
Continue Reading* Review of The Reckoning, AAJ, by Victor Verney: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/damani-phillips-the- reckoning-by-victor-verney.php#.U6X_SPldXAs
* Review of The String Theory, AAJ, by Victor Verney: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/damani-phillips-the-string- theory-by-victor-verney.php#.U6YEM_ldXAs
* Review of The String Theory from "The Muse's Muse": http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-damaniphillips- thestringtheory.html
Primary Instrument
Saxophone
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Director of Jazz Studies and Associate Professor of African American Studies at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Cannonball Adderley
saxophone
Kenny Garrett
saxophone, alto
Antonio Hart
band / ensemble / orchestra
